Academic Programs Abroad

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

National Student Exchange Frequently Asked Questions

For Interested Students
For Incoming Students

For Interested Students
1. I may want to study abroad while I'm at LSU, and I don't know if I can participate in the National Student Exchange and study abroad. Is there a rule that I can only go on one type of exchange?
2. What are the requirements to go on a National Student Exchange?
3. How much does a National Student Exchange cost?
4. So if I want to go on exchange and pay the host university, I don't receive my TOPS scholarship, right?
5. I am currently a freshman, and I am interested in participating in National Student Exchange my junior year. I know you must apply for this program early, so when do you recommend that I start attending meetings and filling out applications?
6. Can you participate in the NSE more than once while you're an undergraduate?
7. My friend and I want to do this exchange together. Is there any guarantee we can get into the same school. If not do you have any suggestions to make our odds better?
8. How easy/difficult is it to get into classes?
9. How will I know if the courses I take on exchange will count toward my degree?
10. How do I know what courses my host university offers?
11. Are the schools that have quarters instead of semesters not an option
12. Can I talk to other students who have participated in NSE?
13. Where can I find out more information/pick up an application?
14. I am ready to get the ball rolling! Where do I go from here?

No, there is no rule about that. The Academic Programs Abroad office handles four types of study away: 1) Summer Programs, 2) International Exchanges (LSU-Affiliated), 3) National Student Exchange, and 4) and Non-LSU International study abroad (through programs not affiliated with LSU). There are students who do combinations of the four options. For example, a young lady went to Puerto Rico through the National Student Exchange one year and went on an international exchange to Argentina. Another student spent a fall in another part of the country through NSE, then went on a non-LSU summer program. One student has gone on a National Student Exchange to Hawaii, then went on an international exchange to China, and then went on our summer program to Spain. Some spend one semester on a National Student Exchange and another semester on an international exchange; others spend a year on exchange nationally and another year internationally. How long you can be away depends on your college.

Although all majors can study away, what your particular options are depends on your major and college. People majoring in International Studies (within the College of Arts & Sciences) are encouraged to study away. The student mentioned above who went to Puerto Rico is an International Studies major. Check with a college advisor about your study away time limits.

You can go on exchange as soon as you have 30 hours (or are a sophomore)
You have to have a 2.5 GPA
You have to be enrolled fulltime during the semester before your exchange
You have to be in good academic/financial standing with LSU
There are two payment plans, Plan A (You pay the host institution) or Plan B (You pay LSU). Even if you choose plan B, you still must pay your host university for housing and meals, if you live on campus
Your TOPS and many other types of financial aid apply, regardless of what plan you choose

3. In most cases, it won't cost any more than going to LSU, and, depending on where you go and your residency status, you may even pay less.

Most NSE schools offer you the option of either paying your home university (LSU) tuition or paying in-state tuition to them. If their tuition costs less and you choose to pay them (also known as the host university), you may save some money. It's important to remember that you will pay them directly. Generally, though, paying tuition to LSU is easier. In either case, whether you pay tuition to LSU or to the host university, you will pay the host university directly for room and meals if you live on campus. The costs vary by university, and 98% of the universities in the NSE do not require you to live on campus (exceptions include, but aren’t limited to, California State University, Monterey Bay, and University of North Carolina, Wilmington).

You will also pay much less if you are an out-of-state student and you go on a national exchange and pay the host university's in-state tuition!

Besides these costs, you'll also have the cost of living (day-to-day expenses). In Hawaii, the cost of living is much higher than here. In Puerto Rico, it's lower. Visit the NSE's website, specifically the "Campus Budgets" section, where each school gives a projected cost-of-attending breakdown.

Additional costs include the $238 application fee (put on your fee bill) and a $100 concurrent enrollment fee (also put on your fee bill) per semester of exchange. Your host university may have an activity/orientation fee, too. Visit the National Student Exchange Directory of Exchange Opportunities (the link under #4, below) to see if your school of choice charges a fee.

4. Wrong. Whether you pay LSU's or the host university's tuition, you will receive most of your financial aid, including TOPS (exceptions are Chancellor's Aid, out-of-state fee scholarships, and work study aid).

If you were to go on exchange and pay LSU tuition, you'd get a normal fee bill and your aid would apply to your fee bill as usual. If your aid isn't the exact amount of your fee bill, you'd either pay LSU the difference (if the fee bill is more than your aid) or LSU would send you the difference (if your fee bill is less than your aid).

If you were to go on exchange and pay your host university's tuition, you'd get your aid sent to you by check or direct deposit within the first few weeks of the LSU semester. As an NSE student, your host university would allow you extra time to pay your bill.

5. You should get the application process going as soon as you like. If you want to go for fall '10, for example, you should have everything in by late February '10. However, depending on where you want to go, you may be able to apply later. There is a yearly NSE conference in early March where most of the NSE placements occur. However, 75% of the schools take students after this conference. But if you have your heart set on one school, you are strongly encouraged to apply before that yearly placement conference (or by March 1).

6. You can participate in NSE for up to one academic year in total, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay at one school. You can, for example, do a fall semester at CSU Northridge, a spring semester at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a summer semester at the University of Alaska Southeast. Not all schools participate in summer exchanges, though. And some require that you be there for spring if you want to stay through the summer. Also keep in mind that you don’t have to go for consecutive semesters. You can go to the University of Montana one spring semester and then go to the University of Hawaii Hilo the following spring.

Furthermore, although NSE restricts exchange to one year, you can also exchange internationally for another semester or two, depending on your academic college (whether they permit you to be on exchange for two years or not).

If you are considering exchanging, go for it! If you have any reservations about exchanging, contact the NSE coordinator to see if your reservations can be addressed.

7. You can go as a linked pair. On your application, there's a space to say you want to go as a linked pair and you write the other student's name (it can even be a student from another university). When the coordinator at your school of choice is considering you, he/she considers you both and either accepts you both or rejects you both. You're a package deal, in other words.

8. It depends on your major and the university you choose. Most universities in the NSE will have competitive scheduling in business, art, and mass communications courses. The National Student Exchange Directory of Exchange Opportunities lists information for each school, including any scheduling limitations NSE students may face. Most of what you need to know about each school is in this directory. You can view the directory online, or you can pick one up the NSE office, 140 Hatcher Hall. If you need help deciphering anything, please let the NSE coordinator know!

9. Through the process of concurrent enrollment, you'll get your courses approved before you go on exchange by filling out a P.A.C.E. form. So you'll know before you go on exchange what courses will count toward your degree.

10. There is a link to all of the schools' catalogs in the "Student" section of the NSE website.

11. The quarter schools are very much an option. The limitation is that you couldn't go to a quarter school for fall-only because of when quarters start. The fall quarter begins in late September, the winter quarter begins in early January, and the spring quarter begins in March. So you could only fit the fall quarter into a fall semester, and quarter credits are worth 67% of a semester credit. A four-credit course at a quarter school would transfer back to LSU as 2.7 credits. (4 x .67=2.7). You wouldn't be able to take enough courses to equal fulltime. If, at a quarter school, you took four courses that were four credits each, that'd be 16 quarter credits, which would come back as 10.72 semester credits (16 x .67=10.72).

That's the limitation. You could go for a year and get three quarters in, or you could go for spring and get two quarters in. If this doesn't make sense, visit the NSE coordinator, who'll be happy to expound upon it further.

12. Yes, you can. Contact the NSE coordinator, who can probably you in contact with a student who has gone to the place you want to go.

13. You can visit the student section of NSE's website (http://www.buffalostate.edu/depts/nse/learn.asp), email me, call me, or attend an interest meeting (http://ocs-web2.ocs.lsu.edu/apa/interest_meetings.asp). You can pick up an application from the NSE coordinator.

14. a. Select at least three schools you want to go to, in order of preference.
b. Contact the NSE coordinator if you'd like to talk to students who've gone on exchange to the universities you're interested in.
c. Once you've narrowed down schools and talked to people who've gone there, come by and talk to the NSE coordinator about the schools; she can help you make decisions about step b above and give you an application.
b. Decide what financial plan(s) you are willing to go on. If you are planning to go as a linked pair with someone, you don't have to select the same plan.
c. Decide if you want on-campus housing.
d. Visit your advisor and get a degree audit to see what classes you've taken and what you've got left to take, and talk to him or her about the exchange.
d. Fill the application out and return it to the NSE coordinator, preferably by March 1.

For Incoming Students

1. What priority do I have in registering for courses at LSU?
2. How do I register for courses?
3. What is PAWS, and how do I set up my PAWS account?
4. How do I apply for housing, and am I allowed to apply for the on-campus apartments?
5. Do I have to enroll full-time at LSU?
6. What if I arrive at LSU, decide I don’t like it, and want to go home?
7. What if I want to extend my exchange another semester at LSU?
8. Does the NSE allow me to establish residency at LSU?
9. How do I purchase a parking permit?
10. How do I set up a Post Office Box?
11. How can I get to LSU from the airport?
12. When can I buy football tickets?
13. How can I request a transcript from LSU?
14. Where can I buy textbooks for my courses?

1. You have a high priority. You will register with the first group of students the minute registration opens. You have this priority, that is, IF you get all of your application process completed in time.

2. Visit the LSU Grock knowledge base's page on how to schedule: http://grok.lsu.edu/Article.aspx?articleId=4112. Please note that if any course you want to register for has prerequisites, you will not be able to schedule it on your own—you'll have to contact the NSE coordinator at LSU, Dawn Humble. Using your transcript, she will determine if you have a comparable prerequisite for the course you want to take and email the advisor. If the course is full, she can request that you be waitlisted, but she cannot get you putinto a full course. You are also welcome to contact LSU advisors or professors about gettiing into courses yourself.

Please note that if you want to take an ECON course, you will have to have the syllabus or syllabi of the courses you've taken that count as prerequisites to the one you want to schedule. Also note that business courses are extremely competitive.

3. Once you have completed the admission steps and are in the LSU system, you'll receive an email with your PAWS ID and password instructions. Once you have that, you can visit the LSU website, click "Logon to PAWS," and log in with your PAWS ID and temporary password. You'll conduct most of your university business through PAWS, from scheduling courses (see #2 above) to applying for housing (see #4 below) to requesting transcripts to paying your fee bill. To find out more about PAWS, visit the PAWS information page.

4. You are allowed to apply for on-campus appartments; however, do realize that the likelihood of getting in is slim. They are in demand and applications are taken well in advance. Please be sure to have some back-up choices. You apply for housing through PAWS. For more information about the process, visit http://grok.lsu.edu/Article.aspx?articleId=5175.

5. Yes. NSE students coming to LSU are expected to maintain a full-time status for the entire exchange. Failure to do so could bring some unwanted penalties.

6. We cannot force you to remain at LSU, but keep in mind that if you withdraw from the NSE program after the semester has begun and before it has ended, you must officially resign from LSU. You will also lose some of the tuition that you’ve paid (depending on how long you were actually here).

7. You must first check with your NSE coordinator back at to your home campus to see if the extension is acceptable from his/her side. You must then discuss the possibility with the LSU NSE coordinator, Dawn Humble. Just remember that you can only be on exchange through the NSE for a total of one academic year.

8. Unfortunately, no. Students participating in the National Student Exchange are considered visiting students and cannot establish residency while on exchange. If you are contemplating transferring to LSU, you must realize that non-resident tuition will be paid at LSU for one year after the exchange is complete along with a host of other requirements established by the state. Students are strongly advised to check with LSU’s admissions office to discover all transfer requirements.

9. When you register for courses, you'll be asked, via pop-up window, if you want to register for a parking permit. To learn about parking zones, visit the LSU Office of the University Registrar's Schedule Booklet page (http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/registrar.nsf/$Content/Schedule+Booklet?OpenDocument) and select your appropriate semester.

10. You will set up your post office box once you arrive on campus at the campus post office in the Student Union. More information will be given at the Orientation Meeting when you arrive at LSU.

11. A cab ride is a quick trip to campus and costs approximately $20. You can also take the Airport Shuttle (225-933-7107).

12. Incoming NSE students are allowed to buy tickets at the same time as transfer students. You will receive an email about when you can purchase tickets; it's usually in August. Visit LSU Sports.net for more information.

13. You may visit the Office of the University Registrar (112 Thomas Boyd Hall) in person or request one through PAWS. For instructions on how to do so, visit http://grok.lsu.edu/Article.aspx?articleId=4775.

14. It can be preferable to wait until the first day of classes to get your books (some professors don’t use the books that are “assigned” to their course). You will have time to get them in that first week before classes when you arrive if you want to do that, as well. There are several bookstores around campus that sell textbooks. Most of these stores have websites that you can check out for prices, availability, etc., so you can call them to get the website address.